One of our days in Rhodes we took a guided walking tour of the Old Town (also called “Rhodes”). But before I talk about what we saw/did, some Rhodes history.
The island of Rhodes was of strategic importance for trade in the ancient world. It was repeatedly conquered because of its key location between Europe in the west and Asia in the east.
The Old Town consists of three parts: ancient, medieval, and modern.
The most significant bit of history from ancient Rhodes is the Colossus of Rhodes. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There are no pictures of it. All we know about it is recorded in ancient records.
It was a huge 110-foot high statue dedicated to the god Helios. It was a statue of a man holding a bow in one hand and a torch of light in the other. It was made of iron bars covered with brass plates. The statue straddled the Old Town port with one leg on each side of the entrance to the port. Ships would pass under the crotch.
The Colossus was completed in 280 B.C. and stood for only 54 years until it was toppled by an earthquake. It broke at the knees and fell to pieces leaving huge chunks lying around for over 100 years.
Due to its proximity to the Holy Land, Christianity was accepted rather quickly. Tradition says that, in 58 AD, St. Paul came to Rhodes and preached in the village of Lindos.
The Greeks ruled Rhodes until 70 AD when it was conquered by the Romans. It was part of the Roman Empire until the fall of Rome in 395. At that point Rhodes became part of the Byzantine empire under Constantinople.
The Byzantine Empire was the eastern half of the Roman Empire which broke off after the fall of Rome.
After the Great Schism of 1054 (split between West European Catholics and Byzantine East European/Middle Eastern Orthodox), Rhodes became a pivotal port during the crusades and was conquered back and forth between the Catholic and the Orthodox.
The Catholic Knights of Saint John came to Rhodes in 1309 and ruled for 200 years. During that time they defended the island from repeated attacks by the Muslim Ottoman Turks. In defense of Rhodes the Knights built 30 castles around the island. In the Old Town, the Knights built 2.5 miles of fortified stone walls surrounded by a moat.
Ultimately the island was captured by the Turks in 1522 and the Knights were given safe passage to Malta. The Muslim Turks ruled for 400 years until its takeover by the Italians in 1912 and finally returned to Greece in 1947.
Enough history.
As I mentioned earlier, it was difficult to find a Catholic church in Greece, let alone that was celebrating Mass. The churches were closed on Santorini. However, on our last day in Rhodes, we found a noon Mass at St. Maria Chiesa Cattolika.
Walking around the Old Town it felt like we somewhere other than Greece. Every sign was in English. It’s great that us lazy Americans only have to learn one language.
We took an overpriced walking tour of the Old Town. Our guide was nice but nothing spectacular for the price we paid. It was just us and a young couple from Great Britain on the tour—so that was good.
Here’s a video to get a feel for walking around in Old Town.